41 Post Incident – Temptation (1/2)
I toss the bloody sword aside and then fall backward. I lie on my back and sigh. A sharp pain shoots across my chest. I slide my fingers across the tear on my armor and grimace. My head spins at the same time. What do I do now…? I'm losing all my strength… Someone…help…
I pass out.
…
”…Kai…” someone says while my ears ring.
Someone's voice… Who is it? Something warm touches my face. I open my eyes slowly.
”Kai! Hold on! We're going to get help now!” Marin exclaims. She gets up and runs out.
We're…? Luna…is she okay…? I can't hold on… My eyes feel heavy. Luna follows after Marin before my eyes shut completely. I pass out.
…
Indistinguishable chatter resounds somewhere far. Luna!
I open my eyes quickly, finding a white ceiling in front of me. I shift my gaze around. My injuries are dressed in white bandages. Luna is sitting in a chair next to the bed. Her head is down. I sigh. She's just asleep.
The clothes she's wearing is unfamiliar to me and bloodstained. What're those clothes…? I've never seen her wear them before. And she wasn't injured… Did she get injured?!
I reach out my hand toward her, when suddenly, she looks up. She smiles and asks, ”Oh, Kai! You're awake!”
”Ah…yeah,” I respond with my hand frozen in place.
She cocks an eyebrow and asks, ”What're you doing…?”
I draw my hand back and explain, ”I was—”
”Oh, I see!” Luna exclaims with a smile and then giggles. She takes my hand and pulls it toward her. My hand rests on one of her breasts. ”You want to continue where we left off, right?”
”Huh… No! I was just—”
Luna climbs on top of me. I gulp and blush. ”You were just…what?”
She flicks her hair back, and my hand falls to the bed. My heart beats like a drum as my eyes linger on her curves. I bite my bottom lip repeatedly while I raise my trembling hands to touch her, but I stop and ask, ”Luna, where'd you get those clothes?”
She sits upright, looks at herself, and then answers, ”Oh these? Do you like them?”
She leans toward me, grins, and continues, ”I got them from this lady next to me when I woke up.”
A lady next to her…? But there were only… Luna's tongue invades my mouth. I resist my urges and push her back and then ask, ”You took it…? From a…body…?”
”Huh? Yeah. She didn't need it anymore. She was dead. They don't really fit me, though.”
My thoughts shut off, remembering what happened before I passed out. I grit my teeth. She hasn't changed from before… She's not herself!
The pressure around my waist loosens. Luna throws my belt across the room. ”I understand, Kai. You're running out of patience, right?”
”No… Just stop it.”
”You don't have to be so reserved with me, Kai,” she says as my pants are pulled down. My thoughts and muscles freeze up.
”I don't want this…” My heart pounds progressively faster. I can't forget the events that happened earlier.
”Are you embarrassed?” she asks as one of her hands presses against my raging friend. ”But I know what you want…”
”Just stop...” She doesn't listen and pulls down my underwear. I clench my fists, grit my teeth, and tighten the muscles around my entire body. ”Stop!”
Luna lowers her head and opens her mouth.
”Stop it you dumb bitch!” I finally manage to move my body and reflexively knee her in the face off the bed. I pant. Still on the ground, Luna turns her head toward me.
”Kai…” she mutters and crawls back toward me. I gulp. I don't want to associate this fake Luna with her face anymore.
”Get out!” I scream and point to the exit. Luna looks at me with teary eyes for a moment before standing up and then running out the door. Tears run down my face with the back of my throat aching. I pull up my pants and lie back down. I recall the happy days just a few days ago. Everyone's smiling faces and this morning with Luna. Sitos…
Tears continue to flow down as I recall the nauseating sight of the moments before his death. Drugo…
I think back to the moment I walked into the Adventurer's Hub and stepped in a puddle of blood, Drugo's lifeless body next to it. Hiro…
I widen my eyes. That's right…! I made a promise to Hiro!
I quickly sit up, remembering Hiro's still stuck in our caravan. I need to hurry!
I wipe my tears on my arm, sniff my snot, and then stand up. I pick up my belt on the ground and then clip it on my pants. As I put on my boots, a sharp pain shoots across my chest. I crouch down and grimace. Blood seeps through some of the bandages on me.
”Kai!” Marin exclaims as she runs over to me. ”What's wrong?”
I raise my head, revealing my bloodstained bandages. Marin crouches down and says, ”Oh, no… Your injuries opened up again… Don't push yourself. You were lucky to be treated as soon as you did.”
”What do you mean?”
”Well… Luna and I had to run around the entire city looking for help. No one would listen to me, and I didn't know what to do… That's when Luna came with a doctor with her. It's thanks to her that you're alive…”
I widen my eyes as Marin looks around the room. Luna…
”Where'd she go? She said she was going to stay with you…”
”I said something bad to her…” I say and then stand up. ”I'm gonna go after her!”
Marin grabs my arm and says, ”Wait, you need to rest…”
”There's no time!” I exclaim and break free from her grasp.
”Lively already?” a man standing next to the door asks.
”Doctor, quick! His wounds…!”
”So my quick treatment wasn't enough, eh?”
”So you're the one who treated me… Thank you. If it wasn't for you, I might not be...”
The man smiles and answers, ”Luna deserves those words more than I do. I was just doing my job…and it seems I didn't do a good one.”
I ask, ”Luna?”
”She's your friend, right?”
”Yeah…. She is… But still… Thanks for prioritizing me over everyone else. It must be chaotic out there for you.”
He forces a laugh and then replies, ”Really, it was nothing. I'm not doing charity work here. Her offer was the best one available at the time. That's all there is to it.”
”I see. Well, I didn't bring my money with me…but if you fix me up again, I swear I'll bring it to you and pay for your services.”
”That won't be necessary,” the man says as he walks over to the bed. ”I only stopped the bleeding before because I didn't receive the full payment. I'll close your wounds now that I've received it. Take off those bandages and lie down here.”
I stand up and try to find how to unravel my bandages.
”I'll do that for you…” Marin says as she undoes my wrappings. I lie on the bed. The man puts his hands over my injuries. They glow a faint green as he glides his palms over my wounds. The pain emanating from my chest lessens.
”It's done,” the man says as he removes his hands from my torso. A dark, red streak remains under the diagonal cut I sustained. ”I've regenerated the outer skin layer, but your body still has to recover from the inside.”
The man stands up and walks toward the exit. ”I've got to run some errands now. I recommend taking it easy for now. I'll be back later to check up on you.”
His footsteps fade away in the distance. I sit up and throw my feet to the floor. I glance around the room, finding my armor and weapons in a corner. ”Where's my shirt?”
”The doctor had to remove it forcibly so…”
”Whatever,” I say and stand up. ”I'm just gonna go without it.”